From Ebony:

You may not have heard of Shelby J., but trust and believe, you’ve heard Shelby J. For instance, you’ve watched her sing and dance her heart out as the cornrowed glamazon on neo-soul visionary D’Angelo’s Voodoo tour. Or you’ve listened to her smoky, powerful pipes singing the “Right Here, Right Now” refrain from Kmart’s popular radio campaign. Or lending those same pipes to the albums and tours of a slew of musical greats: Mary J. Blige, Carlos Santana, Roy Hargrove, Martin Luther, D’Angelo, Anthony Hamilton, and her current bandleader/mentor, Prince. This lady’s sultry voice has been ev-er-y-where.

Now sporting a sexy bald crown that brings to mind the gorgeous Ohio Players’ album cover model Pat Evans, Shelby J. (née Shelby Johnson-Allen) has long been a familiar face on stage and TV. She’s been playing with her live band Black Gypsy, performing on VH1 Soul, the MTV Movie Awards and soloing with Prince on the Superbowl XLI Halftime Show.

Good for her

Yeah, I'm excited! She's a sweetheart.

Great! I think she'd be fantastic as a solo artist.

Dear Prince,

Please do not promise to produce or release Shelby's music because I do not want her to be another Tamar Davis, Bria Valente, Andy Allo... or for that matter, Apollonia, Rosie Gaines, Taja Sevelle, Vanity, Martika, Nona Gaye, Carmen Electra, Cat Glover, or Ingrid Chavez that you had once promised to develop and then "dropped" because they didn't conform to your demands or you decided to part-ways. I do not want you later saying Shelby cannot use her name or play any music that you might have had a hand in, just because you are in a bad mood.

Sincerely...

Efan said:

From Ebony:

You may not have heard of Shelby J., but trust and believe, you’ve heard Shelby J. For instance, you’ve watched her sing and dance her heart out as the cornrowed glamazon on neo-soul visionary D’Angelo’s Voodoo tour. Or you’ve listened to her smoky, powerful pipes singing the “Right Here, Right Now” refrain from Kmart’s popular radio campaign. Or lending those same pipes to the albums and tours of a slew of musical greats: Mary J. Blige, Carlos Santana, Roy Hargrove, Martin Luther, D’Angelo, Anthony Hamilton, and her current bandleader/mentor, Prince. This lady’s sultry voice has been ev-er-y-where.

Now sporting a sexy bald crown that brings to mind the gorgeous Ohio Players’ album cover model Pat Evans, Shelby J. (née Shelby Johnson-Allen) has long been a familiar face on stage and TV. She’s been playing with her live band Black Gypsy, performing on VH1 Soul, the MTV Movie Awards and soloing with Prince on the Superbowl XLI Halftime Show.

Read the rest of the article here:
[url]http://www.ebony.com...SoDhc[/url]

Thanks Efan. I made the link 'clickable' for you. I had no idea she used to work with Carlos Santana too. How cool is that? I still love her song 'North Carolina. It has a nice, very different, funk, blues-reggae beat. Now before I read the article, even the writer agreed the song has some reggae flavor ( Yay for that), which the writer credits Prince for that reggae flavor in the song. Matter of fact, that song is perfect timing like the writer states, and should be the theme song for North Carolina right now, because it fits well with what's going on in NC at the moment, i.e., the voting rights/gun law issues. Even the writer gives examples of how the song fits NC right now. Somebody needs to call Melissa Harris-Perry at MSNBC, and tell her to call Shelby and ask her, if they could use a portion of her song, as a theme, during their opening and ongoing discussions of what's going on in NC. ...or..... maybe Melissa should bring Shelby J on her show to discuss how the song relates to current issues in NC.

Here's an excerpt from that Ebony article:

[url]http://www.ebony.com...SoDhc[/url]

" Shelby J.’s solo single “North Carolina” is the bluesy anthem that state really needs right now. It mixes the influence of late, great Al Green producer Willie Mitchell’s deep drummin’ and church-organ funk with Prince’s singular guitar riffs and just a hint of a reggae skank rhythm. The song is message-driven and inspirational, speaking plainly about her experiences growing up a tomboyish Black girl of modest means in her beloved state, at the crossroads of old Dixie racism and New South social progress.

The song features fellow North Carolina native Anthony Hamilton on the hook’s low harmonies and riffing the fiery “well-wells” with gospel conviction. The tune’s subject matter is incredibly timely: just last April, the North Carolina NAACP had a Confederate flag successfully removed from flying at the state capitol building, and, more recently, former cooking show host Paula Deen was accused of operating a segregated, Jim Crow-style eatery in the state".

[Edited 7/30/13 7:49am]

FormerlyKnownAs said:

SuperSoulFighter said:

FormerlyKnownAs said:

Great! I think she'd be fantastic as a solo artist.

Dear Prince,

Please do not promise to produce or release Shelby's music because I do not want her to be another Tamar Davis, Bria Valente, Andy Allo... or for that matter, Apollonia, Rosie Gaines, Taja Sevelle, Vanity, Martika, Nona Gaye, Carmen Electra, Cat Glover, or Ingrid Chavez that you had once promised to develop and then "dropped" because they didn't conform to your demands or you decided to part-ways. I do not want you later saying Shelby cannot use her name or play any music that you might have had a hand in, just because you are in a bad mood.

Sincerely...

Did you forget anybody? Sheila E! Lois Lane Mayte! Jill Jones! Say whatever U want, but after all those years, that "I'll make U a star" line still works... [Edited 7/31/13 10:18am]

Lois Lane had a career before metting Prince and kept having one after they worked with him, they released a decent number of albums and are quite successful in the Netherland it seems, their collaboration with P opened them a door to the international market and at least their next album was distributed all over Europe, but afterwards I guess they naturally went back to being a "domestic" act. Same can be said about Rosie Gaines and Martika: they had a career before Prince. Rosie had already released an album when she met Prince and though didn't become so successful afterwards, she probably wouldn't even have released so many solo albums without her association with Prince and the fanbase it provided her. Also, her second solo album wasn't released on Paisley Park because WB shut the label down, and she probably sold more records by going to Motown as she did than by having an indie release on the newborn NPG Records. As for Martika she was just not enough profitable for Sony keeping investing in her, but she definitely was an act outside of the Prince galaxy (she also had released a solo album before him) and his contributions to her second album probably helped more than harmed (Love... Thy Will Be Done had a lot of radio and TV airplay in Europe, just as well as the non-Prince related Coloured Kisses, and even Martika's Kitchen was aired quite often on MTV Europe). As for Vanity, Apollonia, Sheila E., Cat, Taja Sevelle and Jill Jones, let's not forget that they all decided to leave Prince's camp by themselves. IDK about Cat and Apples but Vanity (as Vanity 6), Taja, Jill and Sheila would definitely have had at least one more album each released on Starr Company/Paisley Park in if they'd stayed. Vanity released 2 albums on Motown but both were unsuccessful, Prince can't be blamed for that. Apollonia, Taja and Sheila chose to become WB artists outside of the Paisley Park sphere but unfortunately their respective albums didn't sell so well, Prince can't be held responsible for that either. As for Carmen Electra, her first album cost so much money to WB that it was greatly responsible for the label's falling out with Prince in 93 and it's quite obvious that WB, who declined to release both Gold Nigga and 24 that year, would have declined to release anything else by Carmen (and thanks God for that!). So I'd say that despite his volatile nature, Prince maybe can't be held responsible for the careers of each and everyone of his one time protégés, particularly if they had a career outside of him before they met him, or if they decided to do their thing outside of his influence by themselves.

[Edited 8/6/13 3:54am]

Good!

Then we at least here no more from her.

Happy she's gone!

Shelby has a big, powerful voice. She actually CAN sing, unlike some with questionable talent who have worked with Prince. I've heard her sing Misty Blue and Brown Skin.

Good luck to her.

MadamGoodnight said:

Shelby has a big, powerful voice. She actually CAN sing, unlike some with questionable talent who have worked with Prince. I've heard her sing Misty Blue and Brown Skin.

Good luck to her.

I absolutely loved her version of "Brown Skin." I love her voice.

Efan said:

MadamGoodnight said:

Shelby has a big, powerful voice. She actually CAN sing, unlike some with questionable talent who have worked with Prince. I've heard her sing Misty Blue and Brown Skin.

Good luck to her.

I absolutely loved her version of "Brown Skin." I love her voice.

*

Me too. She has an amazing voice. She was on the spreecast yesterday and came across as a really lovely lady.

MadamGoodnight said:

Shelby has a big, powerful voice. She actually CAN sing, unlike some with questionable talent who have worked with Prince. I've heard her sing Misty Blue and Brown Skin.

Good luck to her.

That she does, good luck Shelby for the concerts on the weekend and career ahead